Yelvertoft professor leaves academia to write his first novel

It's not often that a university professor abandons academia in favour of writing a novel.

This is precisely what Emeritus Professor Fred Lockwood has done and his first novel, Total Loss, has been published by Pegasus Publishers.

The story traces the lives of three groups of people before they intersect dramatically when an ageing freighter sinks off the coast of Kenya.

It takes readers from Liverpool to Dar es Saalam, from Dubai to Delhi, from the depths of the Atlantic to the warm waters of the Indian Ocean.

Dr Lockwood, who lives in Yelvertoft, said: “I didn’t set myself a specific period in which to write the book but estimate about nine months – I got quicker towards the end.”

He has travelled extensively and dived in the waters of Central America and Africa, the Middle East and South East Asia, Australasia and the Pacific Islands.

The author said is he looking forward to the release of his book.

Total Loss is released on March 24 and the video trailer will be on YouTube at the time the book is published.